Note: The DearEsq free 'ask a lawyer' site is offered as a free informational service to the public and is not intended as legal advice. Laws vary from state-to-state, and in addition every situation is unique, and relevant facts may not be known. The answer to the question posed below may not apply to in your state or to your situation. For legal advice in your state and your situation you should consult with an attorney in your state who is familiar with the rules and laws in your state.
“I’m in a divorce and our home is for sale – do I and our teenage kids have any rights, or does my ex-husband have all the rights? We all live here for convenience, but our house is for sale for $169,900 and I want to put it at $159,000 because the real estate agent thinks it will sell faster. I want to move out and can’t because I need the money. My kids want to move to town so they can get jobs, but my husband won’t budge. I’ve never worked and I’m not even going for alimony if he sells the house and moves into town with the kids. I have somewhere else to live and would like the house to pay off our debts. His mother is paying off his loan that I knew nothing about, and I’m paying off a credit card he maxed and I can’t afford since I’m not working. What rights do I have in the sale of the house? I need to be out because I’m in the process of a K1 fiance visa to live in the US, and I want this settled before I leave. My kids are old enough to live on their own if they choose to. My ex is lazy and has no job and unemployment is running out soon, we might lose everything if he won’t budge.”
To some extent your rights will be determined by whether you are in a community property state, or an equitable distribution state. But in any event, if the sale of the home is part of the divorce (i.e. has been written into the divorce or otherwise ordered by the court) then you can file a motion with the Court asking the Court to order your ex-husband to cooperate with the sale of the home. If the main issue is the asking price, the Court can order an appraisal of the home, and the appraised price would be a starting point for the asking price.
If the issue is that $169,900 *is* the appraised price, but you want to sell for $10,000 less to get the house moving, then you could offer to your ex-husband that if you list it for $159,900, and it sells for $159,900 ($10,000 below the appraised price) that you will let him have $5,000 more out of the sale (as that would be the amount he would be giving up to sell at $10,000 lower than the appraised price).
